Grading the Ravens' free agent acquisitions

Brandon Williams, nose tackle

Williams re-signed with the team, but in an offseason that has seen plenty of Ravens head elsewhere, I’m counting him as a free agent acquisition.

Williams signed a five-year deal worth $52.5 million that should keep him in Baltimore for quite a while. His deal is the highest in the NFL for a nose tackle, something he can hang his hat on. Meanwhile, the Ravens can be proud that they were able to keep a player that many other teams had serious interest in if he came on the open market.

The problem with evaluating Williams as a free agent is that he doesn’t really have a great stat sheet. As a nose tackle, his job isn’t necessarily to create pressure on the quarterback or even to tally a ton of tackles, but to keep linebackers clean, which he does well.

With Williams on the defensive line, linebackers C.J. Mosley and Zachary Orr were able to dominate the middle of the field and act like generals. Without Williams, both would have been tasked far more with shedding blockers in the second level while also trying to make tackles, likely hitting both on the stat sheet.

When you look at Williams’ contract breakdown, that’s where things get even more interesting. Spotrac has his deal effectively being good through 2019 when all of a sudden his cap hit is $11.75 million with a dead cap of only $5 million in 2020. It’s far more likely at that point, the 31-year-old will either have to restructure or will be an obvious cap cut to make way for the next wave of players.

Given Baltimore’s ability to keep him in town and their work with the numbers, Williams’ signing feels like a seriously positive job all around.

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